Teen heads north on epic Arctic expedition
Student gets a lift aboard famed icebreaker Amundsen
A yellow school bus can’t get Carter Lang where he’s going on his next field trip.
The 15-year-old is packing his bags for a research trip to the Arctic aboard the Canadian icebreaker Amundsen, which can be spotted on the back of the $50 bill. Steel-toed boots, patches to ward off seasickness and, of course, warm clothes were among the essentials in Carter’s duffel bag.
He and nine other students from across Canada were chosen to accompany scientists and crew on the expedition to shed light on the consequences of climate change.
After they ship out of Resolute, Nunavut on Oct. 1, they plan to scoop up ocean and ice samples for 10 days before reaching Pond Inlet, on the northern tip of Baffin Island, where they are supposed to meet locals to get a first-hand look at how climate change is affecting them.
“It’s something that will apply to my life because our generation, we’re the ones who will have to face the effects of climate change. It’s going to be a big problem in our lives,” Carter said.
On Monday, his teachers and classmates at Delphi Secondary Alternative School in Scarborough threw a goodbye party for the soon-to-be explorer who sports a surfer’s shoulder-length blond hair.
They marked the occasion with a cake that said “Bon voyage” in blue frosting.
Lang says the trip will be the longest he’s been away from his family, friends and pet rat, Logan. He plans to keep in touch with everybody back home via email and to phone his class from aboard the Amundsen to share what he’s learned.
Carter’s school sent him off with a GoPro camera to record his adventure. His science teacher, Jonade Naeem, said Carter will be his class’s eyes and ears up north.
“We want to take a look at the economic and environmental impacts that the warming Arctic will have on northern communities, and we want to be able do something about that here, in our own small, sustainable way,” he said.
Carter’s parents are covering the $3,750 cost of the trip.
ArcticNet, a network of university researchers who study climate change and its impact on the Arctic, has invited high school students aboard the Amundsen since 2004.
When he was in Grade 11, David Babb, now a sea-ice researcher, was among the first students to go.
“It set me on the path for the rest of my life so far,” he said. “I fell in love with the Arctic, the peacefulness, the remoteness.” He’s gone back a dozen times since. “Hopefully the students who are on it this year will have the same feelings and get fired up about science the way that I did,” he said.
Observations from the ship and satellite records going back 30 years have shown that the ice is getting thinner, he noted.
“It’s important to get the young kids involved in this (research) because they are the generation who will have to deal with the consequences of climate change.”